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What does any respectable birdwatchyer do when her
Island is invading by thousands of buzzing 2-wheelers? ESCAPE!
So, I packed the car and headed east, finding
refuge at Yanakie - on the way to Wilson's Prom to do some "research" for my
business. On the way I decided to eat lunch at one of the 'regular'
wader's sites Maher's landing on Anderson Inlet. I've often had mixed luck
there but Friday was one of the best. 100+ Eastern Curlews, Black
Swan, Pelicans, Pied Oystercatcher, Caspian Tern, Great and
Pied Cormorant, White-faced Heron, Pacific and Sliver Gulls,
Bar-tailed Godwits and a Welcome Swallow. I'm
sure there were more, but decided to press on.
I called in to the Foster Parks Victoria office to
familiarise them with my face - I'd only spoken to them before. Greg Mattingly
was the only one in the office at the time but we had a great time pouring
over maps of the district and comparing notes about local birding sites. This
helped me set my agenda for the next day. I decided to concentrate on finding
sites that I'd never seen before, or not with their birding potential in
mind. Therefore ideas of visiting The Prom were scratched and I determined
to head further east.
On Saturday (19th Oct) I first explored the Corner
Inlet end of Charles Hall Drive, but the wind was so strong even the few swans
in the distance were keeping their heads down. Port Franklin is a
delightful little fishing/boating haven, but so windy nothing new showed its
head to add to my tally despite braving a 'stroll' along the new boardwalk and
tracks near the port. Next stop was the new bird hide at Toora Beach - a
windswept, bleak spot, teeming with waders and terns. The birdhide did
little to shelter me from either the wind or rain which lashed the place,
however I did manage to spend some time between telescope, binoculars, notebook
and bird books, identifying more Eastern Curlews, Caspian, Crested
and Little Tern, Black-tailed and Bar-tailed
Godwits, Red-necked Stints, Grey Teal, Black Swan, Sooty Oystercatcher,
Sanderling and Little Raven. Very
educational!
I then dared to travel along Telegraph Road between
Port Welshpool and Alberton. This narrow, rough track through the unspoilt
bush tempted me to stop and sit, an urge I resisted as further treasures were
promised. I must return soon for a more leisurely look.
It was too windy at Port Albert, so I pushed on to
McLoughlin's Beach. Although it was still
blowing a gale I couldn't resist the boardwalk over the saltmarsh to the boat
ramp. This rashess/ foolhardiness was rewarded with a brief glance of a pair of
Striated Fieldwrens investigating each other's calls and
Horsefield's Bronze-cuckoo nearer the carpark. I found my
first flock of White-fronted Chats on the foreshore lawn, but
the best sight in the area was a Great and a Little
Egret in the one view of the telescope at the other end of the
town. I then drove around to the boat ramp and walked acroos the
footbridge and through some wonderfully sheltering coastal scrub to the
Ninety-mile Beach (southern end). This gem of bushland was alive with the
calls of Yellow Robins, various honeyeaters, thornbills, wrens and Grey
Shrike-thrush - great change from all the water-based birds I'd seen all
day.
My final call for the day was an attempt to
circumnavigate the Jack Smith Game Reserve starting at Woodside Beach.
This proved another exciting drive along tracks used by duck shooters in
season. Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and Red-capped
Plovers in the southern arm of the Lake. I travelled almost up to
end of the southwestern arm of the Lake before a Road Closed sign and deep
mud forced me to return to Woodside. One of the best/most unusual
sightings for the day was found on the return trip a pair of young and/or female
Cicadabirds teased me until I finally got the telescope set up
- then they disappeared completely! By now
daylight was rapidly dying, so I headed back to Yanakie.
Sunday morning the wind was still blowing, so after
a circuit of the Duck Point walking track where nothing of significance, except
a Collared Sparrowhawk, I headed inland to investigate a remnant patch of
rainforest at Turton's Creek Falls. Although the Parks Victoria
pamphlet suggested Lyrebirds were in the area I found no evidence to support
this. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos screeched from the surround pine
plantations and I just missed the thrill of having trail-bike riders shattering
my isolation.
By this stage I'd had enough. Rain set in so
I headed through the hills back to Meeniyan and Phillip Island. Two
final challenges to my spotting skills lay along the road home. The first was
some birds I initially dismissed as yet more Skylarks or
Pipits, but once they flew off I noticed they were small
parrots of some sort, with bright yellow bodies! Blue-winged
Parrots? The last treasure was a young White-breated
Sea-eagle hovering right next to road near Forrest Caves on Phillip
Island. I even got home before The Race was completed, avoiding most
of the thousands of bikes and other vehicles leaving my Island
Home!
Elizabeth Shaw
Phillip Island.
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